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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Perspective. Part 2

After
my incredible experience in Central Park, my journey for beauty soon
continued on to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in Midtown. I have never
been a huge fan of modern art, but when I heard that the MoMa contained
an exhibit of Monet's Water Lilies and other pieces, I knew immediately that I had to go and see the paintings first hand.

I have been utterly fascinated with Monet’s paintings ever
since I was little girl. Thanks to my sweet mother’s influence, Monet quickly
became my favorite painter. I knew as a child that Monet was her favorite
artist and because I adored my mother and wanted to be just like her,
naturally, as with most idolizing young ones, he quickly became my favorite
too. My mother had a copy of Monet’s Poppy
Field hanging in her bedroom, regally placed above a fireplace. I used to
stare at it with admiration, wondering who the mysterious women in the painting
was and what her relationship was like with the child running behind her.

Source: http://www.michaelwaisjr.com

As I grew older, my love for Monet eventually became my own; however, I do still
love that to this day my Mom and I both share a special love for this artist
and the style of Impressionism in general. While traveling with one of my best friends in
Europe this past summer (more to come on that in later blog entries), I had the
once-in-a-lifetime pleasure of seeing some of Monet’s original Water Lilies in
Paris at the Musee de’ Orsee and then got to experience his water lilies in
real life at his Japanese garden at his home in Giverny, France just a few
days later!

The only word that I can use to describe this experience is
surreal. I could not believe that I was getting to see with my own eyes the
lilly pond that Monet had painted these world famous paintings from. It was
such a breathtaking experience and complete honor to get to take a tour of his
home and gardens.

After seeing his original paintings up close in Paris and
his personal gardens in Giverny, I knew that I would really enjoy seeing other
originals at the MoMa.

As soon as I stepped into the exhibit, I knew I had made the
right choice. Immediately upon looking at the paintings, I was flooded with
such an overwhelming sense of peace and solace.
Isn’t it absolutely amazing how God can use the arts to display His
glory and speak to our souls in ways that words just can’t?

Photo: My Own from the MoMa Monet Gallery (Monet's Water Lilies)

Photo: My own from the MoMa Monet Gallery (Monet's Water Lilies)

Photo: My own from the MoMa Monet Gallery (Monet's Water Lilies)

Photo: My own from the MoMa Monet Gallery (Monet's Agapanthus)

The beauty placed
before me was breathtaking. I love to get up close to these paintings to see the
brush strokes and the way the light hits the canvas from different angles. The thing
with Impression though, is that when you look at it up close, it truly looks
like just a bunch of dots and random color squiggles. There is no picture to be
seen when one’s eyes are right up close in the midst of the painting. In order
to see the beauty of the painting and the actual picture that the artist is
depicting, one must step back and look at the painting from a distance…from a
further perspective. This is precisely why I have always loved Impressionism
and have been drawn to Monet’s work in particular. When it is looked at up
close, it truly looks like a mess. But
when it is looked at from a further vantage point, suddenly it transforms into
a whimsical work of beauty; a day dream in our happiest subconscious come to
life.

As I began to step forward and backward looking at Monet’s
paintings in this gallery, the Lord began to speak clearly to me. He reminded
me of how the vantage points of our life are exactly the same as these
paintings. When we are in the midst of our circumstances and everyday living,
we look around us and all we see right in front of us are the blobs of
random color, awkward swirls, and messy brushstrokes that make absolutely no sense to
us at all. But what happens when we take a step back, a step out of our current
surroundings, and gain a perspective from a much further vantage point?

We see
the beauty of the whole picture.

The Lord says to the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 33:3,
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which
you do now know” (NKJV).

Is
not this amazing promise from God one that we can cling
hold of and act upon today? As His sons and daughters, we can call upon
Him for
fresh vision and new perspective. As human beings our vision is limited.
His vision is limitless. He answers us and shows us great and mighty
things that we could have never known and seen otherwise…He shows us the
bigger picture.

Are you caught in a place right now where all you see are
swirls of confusion and frustration without any real picture? Call upon the
Lord. Do you feel shortsighted in your
vision for your life in 2014? Call upon the Lord.

Call upon Him and ask Him to show you His plans and His
purposes for this season of your life from a further perspective. Ephesians 2:6
states, “And God raised us up with Christ and
seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (NIV). When you have
given your life to Jesus, the Bible tells us that we become seated in heavenly
places with Him; therefore we can see our life and our purposes from heaven’s
perspective. Colossians 3:1-2 puts it even better, saying, “Since you have been
raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven,
where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth”
(NLT).

Set
your sights on the realitiesof heaven.

Heaven’s reality, heaven’s truth, and heaven’s
perspective are always supposed to be what guides us and influences our mind
and our sight; never the schmuck of the earth. After all, aren’t we called to
walk be faith and not by sight? (2 Cor 5:7).

The
swirling colors and seemingly messy
paint strokes that you may see right now are not the reality of heaven.
The
reality of heaven is the entire picture. And it is beautiful. Even if
you are in what appears to be a total mess this very moment, take heart
that it will be made beautiful, for we know that He makes all things new
(Rev. 21:5). "I am in Christ and therefore a new creation; old things
have passed away and all things are made new" (2 Cor 5:17). Today, tonight, and every moment to
follow, seize hold of the vantage point that is truly and legally yours through
Jesus. Stop living as those you are stuck on ground level, stuck in the painted
muck. Peer down from heaven and SEE.

See the masterpiece of your life that
the Father himself is painting just for you. It is not just a bunch of dots and
aimless squiggles. It is a masterpiece.